Thread: 4-seater
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  #43  
Old November 26th 04, 05:43 AM
F.L. Whiteley
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"Bill Daniels" wrote in message
news:Zqwpd.85993$V41.54449@attbi_s52...

"F.L. Whiteley" wrote in message
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"Mark James Boyd" wrote in message
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Bill Daniels wrote:

With retractable gear, flaps and winglets that would suggest ~45:1

L/D
and a
min sink of about .55 M/Sec. If flown with a cockpit load of 300 Kg

the
min
sink would be less.

I bet you'd sell a lot more at 1/4 the price with fixed gear,
no flaps, 30:1 glide and higher wing loading.

In my experience, non-pilots are happier with glider rides,
and pilots want soaring rides. The 2-32 rides that succeed seem
to be in places with no lift or ridge lift, and are high tows
of short duration with little turbulence or "excitement."

The best part of these flights for the pax seem to be the great
visibility, smooth ride, and quiet sightseeing, for a reasonable

price.
This isn't quite in line with the specs you suggest.

One of my pilot friends humped a bunch of rides in Hawaii. He thought

there
was a market for a terminal to the numbers 2-32 ride. Climb to 3000agl

then
due a vertical dive (with speed limiting brakes open) and pull out above

the
numbers and land. Of course for this, the chutes are required, which

limits
the load again.

In the UK, we did some evening rides for a group of fireman from the

local
fire college. Not much lift late in the date, but some really got off

on
a
four-loop cloverleaf with a beatup at the end.

A club near Houston reports having been approached by Six Flags about a
concept for winch launch and soar back. I suppose a couple of loops or
something similar might be the icing on cake.

Granted, this type of operation may not appeal to many of us, but there

may
be some other interest there.

Frank Whiteley


Naw, this stuff isn't to entertain the ride customers, it's to stave off
boredom for the ride pilots. You can give a ride customer all the thrills
they can handle with a steep turn and maybe a low-G pushover.

I fly as smoothly as possible while working any lift available. I babble

on
about beautiful scenery, long flights, high flights, using energy from the
sun and how wonderful it is that we can make our way across the sky with
just piloting skills. Then I point out that they too can become a pilot

in
a few weeks or months. They enjoy their ride and a few sign up for

lessons.

It seems to work a lot better in a Grob than in a 2-32 though.

Bill Daniels

We talking about two different things, carnival ride vs soaring promo. I
don't think the 4-seater really fits the soaring promo arena, but would be
just the ticket for Mr. Bill's or the Continental Divide ride. I don't see
300 sales though.

Frank